As an appreciative shoutout to James Woods, one of the wildfire victims in California, here’s a Balladeer’s Blog look at 8 of his films.
This was originally posted in 2021 so the complimentary reviews of his acting are not just sympathy for this week’s events.
James Woods is like a force of nature. When he’s on the screen he virtually blows away most of the people with whom he shares that screen. His staggering versatility also marks him as one of the few true actors in the industry. Here are some of the movies which harnessed Hurricane Woods:
VIDEODROME (1983)
Role: Max Renn, cable television entrepreneur
Comment: Sorry to start with such an obvious choice but I’m amazed that there are still people out there who haven’t seen this movie. David Cronenberg’s patented body horror and other surreal visuals needed a thespian who wouldn’t fade into the woodwork among them. Woods as the intense, sleazy Max Renn fit the bill perfectly.
James proved you don’t need to be twitchy and leering to portray a character who is virtually amoral in his pursuit of money, kinky thrills, Deborah Harry … and the ultimate underground broadcast called Videodrome. Anticipating the Deep Web, there was this magnificent film about how – before the internet came along – it was cable television that was considered a doorway to the forbidden and the depraved.
A cable titillation peddler tries to locate and strike a broadcast deal with a seeming Snuff Show called Videodrome. The sinister parties behind the pirate broadcast are the ultimate villains for the time period, and Cronenberg’s treatment of them shows that SUBTLETY can be more effective than hammering your audience over the head. LONG LIVE THE NEW FLESH! Continue reading
BABYLON ELECTRIFIED (1888) – Written by Albert Bleunard. In the tradition of his fellow Frenchman, Jules Verne, Bleunard crafted this work of science fiction with an international cast. 
EVA THE ADVENTURESS – This was the second of the novels that Nellie Bly (Elizabeth J. Cochrane) wrote between 1889 and 1895. They were considered lost until being rediscovered in 2021. 
ARREST AND TRIAL (1963-1964) – Decades before Law & Order came this forgotten television series which used one half of its 90-minute run-time to depict the police tracking down and arresting a suspect and the other half depicting the trial. Ben Gazzara, Chuck Connors and Don Galloway starred. 
Arrest and Trial lasted just one season (yes, some shows did 30-episode and even 39-episode seasons back then). Audiences may have been too used to the comfort food of crime shows where they knew going in who was guilty and who was innocent. Cop shows like Dragnet always showed the police nabbing the guilty and lawyer shows like Perry Mason always showed the defendants being innocent. No such convenience on this show. 
These are the legends about Charlemagne and his Paladins, not the actual history, so there will be dragons, monsters and magic. 
ROLAND BATTLES MOROCCAN CORSAIRS – The Paladins recently freed by Astolpho from the prison of the sorcerer Atlantes all hastened to rejoin Emperor Charlemagne’s army. The war against the Muslim invaders from colonized Spain and North Africa was still raging. 
Here’s the 2025 edition of what will apparently be an annual post for as long as 
On January 6th, 2021, a “mostly peaceful protest” (as Democrats described the MONTHS-LONG Antifa riots which terrorized the country) at the Capitol turned into a chaotic mass-trespassing incident with the Democrats of the Capitol Police even killing an unarmed woman. Suddenly, Democrat pretensions that they revered the Capitol poured from the mouths of the demagogues of the Democrat Party. 
Anyway, Democrats felt that their OWN storming of the Capitol was fine back on 
In May 2020 when the White House was violently attacked for about 24 hours and many secret service agents were seriously injured, Biden and other Democrats said Trump “used tear gas against peaceful protestors” even though it’s been proven that he DIDN’T use tear gas on those “peaceful protestors.” Listen to those Democrat hypocrites today and the draconian measures they now recommend against civil disobedience!
SHAKE, RATTLE AND ROCK! (1956) – Rocksploitation at its campiest! In this hilariously bad movie Rock and Roll music is blamed for the Juvenile Delinquency epidemic of the 1950s. 
PROUDLY PREVAILING POMEROYS – The ST. MARY-OF-THE-WOODS COLLEGE POMEROYS hosted the INDIANA UNIVERSITY SOUTHEAST GRENADIERS. By Halftime the Pomeroys had so completely dominated IUS that they held a comfortable 39-20 lead. After the break, SMWC kept the Grenadiers at arm’s length for a 69-58 victory. Greg Jenkins led the Pomeroys with 23 points and his teammate Shon Tupuola had a Double Double of 15 points and 18 rebounds. 
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